Indoor lacrosse, soccer and football center may come to complex on Florida-Goshen border

Florida — Major expansions are in the works at the 13.9-acre Remee Plaza on the Goshen-Florida border to bring indoor soccer, lacrosse, and football fields to the plaza’s sports complex. Plans also include adding a wholesale meat distributor and office building. Developer Steve Esposito of Esposito and Associates represented Al Morad, the owner of the sports complex, before the Town of Goshen Planning Board. He asked for a special-use permit to renovate half of the complex’s interior. Plaza businesses already offer physical therapy, martial arts, a learning center, a wire-working business, a nursery, and a day care center, as well as offices. Reknown lacrosse players, Jim Lagarde and his son, would serve as general manager and coach at the complex. Lagarde is a certified National Academy Coach with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. He also has an International Premier coaching diploma from Curitiba, Brazil. The four synthetic indoor courts would be used for training only, not competitions. They will encompass 27,000 square feet and accommodate 52 clients at a time, plus eight employees. “This will provide a much-needed source in our community,” Esposito said. The expansion will require a public hearing because a special-use permit is need. The board scheduled the hearing for Aug. 2. Goshen’s planners said the Village of Florida will be kept in the loop on plans because it provides water for the sports complex. But because the complex is now using only 5,000 gallons a day, and is already approved for 25,000 gallons, the owner does not expect any difficulty with the water supply. The complex has its own septic system and fire-sprinkler system. Morad also applied to expand the warehouse in front of the sports complex. The 120,000-square-foot warehouse would get a 175-by-50-foot addition totalling 8,150 square feet for a wholesale meat distributor. Morad is also planning an additional large office building toward the front of the property. He made it clear his plans are a package deal. The tenant now occupying the rear portion of the sports complex for a wire-working business will move to the expanded warehouse, he said, so both will have to be approved for the project to succeed.